Found my abs again after taking on a workout regime

When you’re the only one who shows at an exercise class you have a choice: Work out on your own or slip away and backslide.

Since I had already backslid the last two classes I jumped on into the pool to self-coach myself. I could have taken it easy on myself but since there were two lifeguards available to drag my big carcass out if trouble ensued, I opted for a tougher than normal workout.

I was under the impression that I didn’t have abs anymore. I thought maybe they left your body after 60 but by overdoing the leg lifts I can report that I’ve found those rascals. It was pretty obvious by the end of the day I had aroused them from wherever they had been hibernating.

The $100,000 question is can I do those leg lifts two days later. I think I can, I think I can. Even if the instructor doesn’t lead us through that exercise I’ll try to stay after and do them.

While I’ve always been good at working on my own at my job, I’ve never been great at doing the same where exercise is concerned. The best I’ve done was walking at one time but even on that I recruited the dogs for moral support.

I never had a problem regularly playing handball or racquetball back when I could physically and safely do it. Exercise was social and competitive and it didn’t feel like exercise.

Show me a treadmill or exercise bike and I’ll be ignoring the thing in no time, same way with an exercise mat on my living room floor.

These aqua-fitness classes I’ve been doing are a Godsend. Despite my arthritis and scoliosis, I can move enough in the weightlessness of the water to keep everything moving without being in too much pain or falling down. The camaraderie of the folks in the class give me the motivation to get up before the sun and head to the pool, even on days when the rest of the class doesn’t show up.

Exercise alone isn’t going to maintain my six-pack abs, I need to be dieting at the same time. I know what I need to do but I don’t usually have the willpower to make that happen either. Unfortunately, I think treating it socially will have the opposite effect on diet.

I like to go out to eat with the family and I’m doing that this weekend to celebrate my birthday. I’ll do extra crunches on Monday morning and continue chasing my tail.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

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